VP Kamala Harris's deputy chief of staff resigns

Kamala Harris speaks during a 'Get Out The Vote' campaign event with Democratic Senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in Garden City, Georgia, on January 3, 2021. Bloomberg

Kamala Harris is sworn in as vice president by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor as her husband, Doug Emhoff, holds the Bible during the inauguration at the US Capitol in Washington. AP

Kamala Harris swears in Raphael Warnock, Alex Padilla and Jon Ossoff on the floor of the Senate the morning of January 6, 2021, on Capitol Hill in Washington. AP

Kamala Harris looks on as US President Joe Biden signs the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act at the White House on June 17, 2021. AFP

Kamala Harris visits Guatemala's Minister of Foreign Affairs Pedro Brolo to announce $1.2 billion in commitments from businesses to support the economies and social infrastructure of Central American nations. AP

Kamala Harris is welcomed by Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana in Singapore on August 23, 2021. AP

Kamala Harris meets Singapore's President Halimah Yacob at the Istana in Singapore. AP

Kamala Harris meets Vietnam's Vice President Vo Thi Anh Xuan at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Vietnam, on August 25, 2021. AP

Kamala Harris poses next to Papilionanda Kamala Harris during an orchid-naming ceremony at the Istana in Singapore, August 2021. AP

Kamala Harris stops to lay flowers at the John McCain memorial site on the three-year anniversary of his death, in Hanoi, Vietnam, August 25, 2021. AP

Kamala Harris holds up a jersey presented to her by Dave Roberts, team manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington on July 2, 2021, after the team won the World Series. EPA

Kamala Harris greets Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti during an event honouring the Los Angeles Dodgers and their 2020 World Series Championship in the East Room of the White House in Washington. AFP

Kamala Harris is introduced while visiting the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America International Training Centre during her 'America's Back Together' tour, in Las Vegas, Nevada, on July 3, 2021. EPA

Kamala Harris greets German Chancellor Angela Merkel as she arrives at the vice president's residence, the Naval Observatory, on July 15th, 2021. AP

Kamala Harris poses with members of the Detroit Youth Choir after delivering remarks at a vaccine mobilisation event at the TCF Centre on July 12, 2021. AFP

Crown Prince of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah arrives with his father, King Abdullah II, at the Kamala Harris's official residence in Washington on July 20, 2021, where King Abdullah met Ms Harris for a working breakfast. AP

Vice President Kamala Harris and Jordan's King Abdullah, followed by Crown Prince of Jordan Hussein bin Abdullah, walk to the Naval Observatory in Washington. AP

Kamala Harris welcomes Angela Merkel for a working breakfast at One Observatory Circle in Washington. EPA

DACA recipient Hina Naveed meets Kamala Harris and other DACA recipients on July 22, 2021, in Washington. Getty Images / AFP

Kamala Harris arrives at the Capitol to discuss voting rights with the family of Lyndon B Johnson in Washington on August 2, 2021. Reuters

Guatemalan migrants deported from the US queue at the Returnee Reception Centre upon their arrival at the Air Force Base in Guatemala City on August 4, 2021. Getty Images / AFP

Kamala Harris looks on as DC Metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone hugs DC Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee after President Joe Biden delivered remarks honouring law enforcement in the Rose Garden of the White House on August 5, 2021. Getty Images

Kamala Harris‬ and Joe Biden interact with family members of fallen police officers as Mr Biden signs into law an act to award four Congressional Gold Medals to the US Capitol Police, Washington Metro Police and those who protected the Capitol on January 6. Reuters

Kamala Harris speaks during a 'No on the Recall' campaign event with California Governor Gavin Newsom at IBEW-NECA Joint Apprenticeship Training Centre on September 8, 2021, in San Leandro, California. Getty Images / AFP

Kamala Harris meets British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on September 21, 2021. Getty Images / AFP

It has been said that you never really know a person until you walk a mile in their shoes. US Vice President Kamala Harris has received criticism from everything down to her footwear. Getty Images / AFP

US Vice President Kamala Harris's deputy chief of staff Michael Fuchs is leaving the administration, the latest top aide from her office to announce a departure, according to an internal staff memo seen by Reuters.

Mr Fuchs, who served as a foreign policy adviser to former president Bill Clinton and worked in senior roles at the US State Department under former president Barack Obama's administration, advised Ms Harris on domestic and international issues, helped manage staff and often accompanied her on foreign trips.

He will remain in his current role until May to "ensure a smooth transition" and will announce his next steps at a later date, according to the memo to staff.

"Fifteen months later, it's almost difficult to recall the magnitude of the challenges we faced when we came in, from an unprecedented pandemic to historically difficult economic circumstances," Mr Fuchs wrote. Work done by the Biden administration has turned things around, he said.

Mr Fuchs' announcement follows a series of exits from Harris's team.

On March 21, Ms Harris's national security adviser, Nancy McEldowney, said she was stepping down from her role. The White House said she would be succeeded by her deputy, Philip Gordon.

Ms Harris's communications team, which had a turbulent first year marked by several messaging failures, has also had several high profile departures.

Jamal Simmons, the vice president's communications director, said Ms Harris "is grateful for Michael's tireless work, leadership and the many miles he travelled domestically and internationally ... our entire team will miss Michael as he begins this next chapter".

Ms Simmons did not comment on staff departures.

Staff shake-ups after the first year of any presidential administration are not unusual, and other areas of the White House are experiencing turnover.

Press secretary Jen Psaki is preparing to leave the White House in the coming weeks, and the Biden administration has yet to pick her replacement, two sources briefed on the situation said on Friday.

Others such as Jeff Zients, President Biden's coronavirus response co-ordinator, will be leaving the White House after 14 months on the job this month while Emily Horne, the spokeswoman for the National Security Council, left her position on March 25.

"This period before the midterms is a common time for officials to depart," said a White House official, who did not wish to be named.

Ms Harris is also hiring a new chief speechwriter, Meghan Groob. She most recently worked as an editorial director at Gates Ventures, where she was a speechwriter to Bill Gates, according to a separate memo sent to staff seen by Reuters. She was previously a senior speechwriter in the Obama administration.

Ms Groob will replace Kate Childs Graham, Ms Harris's director of speechwriting, who left at the end of February.